The Research Journal. Bassot, Barbara. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Bassot, Barbara
Издательство: Ingram
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Жанр произведения: Социология
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781447359876
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      areas that can be difficult to understand initially.

      • It guides you through the research process.

      • It contains space for your own reflections.

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      • It helps you to develop your knowledge in

      the area of research generally and in

      relation to your chosen topic area.

      • It helps you to take control of your

      research project.

      Of course, none of these aspects of the book

      can guarantee you a higher mark, but they

      can help you to succeed.

      The role of writing in research

      and learning

      Many tutors and supervisors encourage their

      students to keep a reflective journal as part of

      the research process, but few give advice on

      how to do this effectively to get the most from it.

      In higher education, there is growing evidence

      of the value of journal writing in aiding students’

      development, and here are some of the reasons

      why. Journal writing helps us to:

      • Gain new insights and develop our

      understanding. It is difficult to write about

      something well unless we understand what

      we are writing about. If we don’t

      understand what we have written,

      probably no one else will either!

      • Slow down and think at a significantly

      deeper level. Most of us live life at a fast

      pace, and slowing down is important for

      developing our critical thinking. We need

      to give ourselves time and space to do this.

      • Examine where we stand on things as

      a researcher. If we have not made our own

      position in the research clear, it may open

      us up to criticisms of subjectivity and bias

      and it will fail to stand up to the academic

      rigour of assessment.

      • Engage with the research process in a more

      transparent way. Any dissertation or research

      project needs to be open and transparent in

      relation to how it has been carried out, so that

      its validity can be assessed.

      • Make an accurate record of each aspect

      of our research. It is all too easy to think

      that we will remember relevant detail,

      when, in practice, this doesn’t always

      happen. This becomes problematic as

      our research progresses, and we need to

      look back and write about what we

      did and why. In addition, we probably all

      remember times when we have been

      writing a piece of work and need to refer

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      to something that we have read, but don’t

      remember where we read it. We then

      have to spend lots of time trying to find it

      again, often at a time when the deadline

      is looming! (Borg, 2001; Ortlipp, 2008;

      Bassot, 2016).

      The first of these bullet points is particularly

      worth noting; we write about things in order

      to understand them, rather than because we

      already understand them. This helps us to see

      why starting to write is often the most difficult

      part; it means we need to write when there is

      probably a lot that we don’t yet understand.

      However, it is the act of writing itself that

      helps our understanding and knowledge to

      grow, so it is important not to put it off. The

      best piece of advice I ever received when

      doing my doctoral studies was, ‘Don’t get

      it right, get it written!’ At first this advice felt

      like turning everything on its head as I felt I

      needed to understand things before I could

      write about them. But being prepared to take

      the advice proved to be an important step

      forward because, once I started to write,

      things began to get easier and I understood

      more. Unlike many of the books you have

      used at university so far, The Research

      Journal is one that you are asked to write

      in – so please do so, as it provides some

      ideal steps towards understanding more.

      Research terminology

      Terminology in research is by its very

      nature abstract and, as a result, it can be

      difficult to grasp and potentially confusing.

      Theme 5 explores some key terms. When

      writing this book, some key decisions

      were made in relation to its scope and the

      terminology used; these are summarised here.

      There are regular debates among academic staff

      in the social sciences about appropriate content

      for research methods modules. These modules

      are commonly studied at undergraduate and

      postgraduate level. Some academics (but not

      all) agree that undergraduate students need

      some grasp of methodology at a philosophical

      level, often demonstrated through a discussion of

      different research paradigms. Others argue that

      at this level an understanding of the difference

      between quantitative and qualitative research is

      sufficient. This is the approach taken by writers

      such as Greetham (2019) and Cottrell (2014) as

      shown by the content of their publications. These

      academics take the stance that postgraduate

      students then need more, including a grasp

      of areas like constructivism, critical theory,

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      ethnography, grounded theory, narrative,

      phenomenology